Randy Edsall enters his fifth season as head football coach at the University of Maryland, leading a program that has earned back-to-back bowl berths and continues to make great strides both on and off the field.

Edsall was named the 34th coach in Maryland football history in January 2011. Since taking over, Edsall and his staff have placed a strong emphasis on recruiting the local Maryland/Washington, D.C. market, which is heavily recruited by schools across the nation and is considered a football hotbed. The result of this focus was the signing of 81 athletes, 42 from the area, since 2012. Edsall and his staff have recruited classes ranked in the top 35 nationally by Rivals.com in two of the last four years, including the 31st overall in 2013.

"Randy Edsall is an excellent football coach. He teaches and believes in the physical nature of the game. He is a great recruiter and his success at Connecticut earned his program compliments and recognition from college football's finest coaches. Randy is a very positive thinking person, and perhaps his greatest attribute is his persistence. He will persevere and he will win at Maryland and he will do it the right way!"- Tom Coughlin, NY Giants head coach

In addition, under Edsall's command the football program's Athletic Progress Rate (APR) has reached all-time highs. The football team's APR, which measures eligibility and retention, increased its multi-year score from 922 (2009-2010) to 950 (2012-2013) and its single-year score from 905 to 977. Both of which are program bests since the APR's inception in 2003.

On the field, Edsall led Maryland into a new era in 2014, with its first season in the Big Ten. Maryland finished the regular season with an impressive 5-1 record away from College Park, leading the Big Ten in road wins. The five road victories were the most for a Terrapin team since 1984. Maryland posted it’s first-ever road victory at Penn State and it’s first-ever win against Michigan to punctuate its first season in the conference, which concluded with an appearance in the Foster Farms Bowl. Maryland finished the season 7-6 securing its first back-to-back winning seasons since 2002-03.

In 2014, eight Maryland players earned all-conference honors, the most ever under Edsall, and Brad Craddock earned Maryland’s first individual national honor since 2002 by winning the 23rd Lou Groza Award for the nation’s top kicker. In addition, 21 student-athletes claimed a spot on the All-Big Ten Academic Team.

The Maryland program continued its ascent in 2013 totaling seven victories and earning its first bowl appearance since 2010 (2013 Military Bowl). Offensively, the Terps passed for over 3,000 yards for only the fourth time in program history and the first time since 1994. Additionally, Maryland totaled over 500 yards of offense in its first three games, the first time that has happened since 1983.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Terps attacked opposing offenses and tied for third in the ACC in sacks (37) and averaged 2.85 sacks per game, tied for the 18th most in the nation. The unit also excelled on third down holding opponents to a 34.2 conversion rate, which was the 21st-best mark nationally.

Prior to coming to College Park, Edsall, a native of nearby Glen Rock, Pa, spent 12 seasons coaching the University of Connecticut Huskies where he took the program from FCS (formerly I-AA) to five bowl games, including a BCS bowl. The 2010 Big East Coach of the Year led the Huskies to a 33-19 record over his last four seasons there, including two bowl victories with his leadership resulting in UConn being the first program ever to go from FBS newcomer to BCS bowl participant in just seven seasons.

Edsall departed UConn as the school’s all-time leader in career wins (74) and most games coached (144). He was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Bowl Championship Division Head Coach of the Year in New England by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston (2007, 2010).

During his tenure at UConn, the Huskies finished in the top-20 nationally for total offense twice (2003, 2004) and total defense three times (2002, 2005, 2008). Under Edsall’s guidance Connecticut defeated teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Conference USA and the SEC.

In 2007, as Edsall continued to grow the program to prominence, the Huskies earned their first-ever national rankings peaking at No. 13 in the BCS standings in November. That year, they became just the second Big East team ever to go 7-0 at home and defeat three teams at home that were ranked in the top-10 during the season.

Off the field, Edsall’s teams were strong in the classroom as well. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, UConn was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association for its high graduation rate. In 2003, UConn was the only public Division I-A school to graduate at least 90 percent of its football players and in 2005, it was one of only eight schools to both graduate 70 percent and win a bowl game.

When Edsall was named the head coach at Connecticut on December 21, 1998 he brought 19 years of coaching experience with him. He earned the job at Connecticut after a year as the defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech where the 14th-ranked Yellow Jackets went 9-2.

Prior to his season at Georgia Tech, Edsall spent four seasons under two-time Super Bowl Champion coach Tom Coughlin as the secondary coach for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. During his time in Jacksonville, the expansion Jaguars reached the playoffs twice, including a berth in the 1996 AFC Championship Game.

Edsall began his coaching career in 1980 at his alma mater, Syracuse University. The former quarterback at Syracuse started as a graduate assistant (1980-82) before joining the staff in 1983 overseeing the running backs under head coach Dick MacPherson. Edsall oversaw the running backs for three years (1983-84 and 1986) and oversaw the tight ends in 1985 before making the switch to defense.

He coached the Syracuse defensive backs from 1987-1990 and during that time the Orangemen were ranked among the Division I-A leaders in pass defense. After the 1990 season, Tom Coughlin, then coach of Boston College, hired Edsall to coach the defensive backs at BC.

Edsall was a three-year letter winner in football, basketball and baseball at Susquehannock High School (Pa.) and was an all-state selection in all three sports as a senior, which led to induction into the York Area Sports Hall of Fame.

At Syracuse, he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1980 and a master’s degree in health and physical education in 1982.

Edsall and his wife, Eileen met at Syracuse University where she was a basketball and volleyball standout who was later inducted into the Syracuse University Hall of Fame. They have a daughter, Alexi and a son, Corey.